Supporting devices for gripping, holding and/or guiding containers are already known from the prior art, in particular being known as “clamping stars.” They are primarily used in the production line processing of containers or receptacles in particular intended to be filled with liquids or other bulk material.
Supporting devices are used among other things during a process of cleaning, filling and labeling containers in which the supporting devices must be locally positioned and aligned in order to receive the containers from the conveyor belts and transport them to the next work station such as, for example, a filling, cleaning or labeling unit. To that end, the supporting devices comprise gripping mechanisms for gripping, holding and/or guiding in particular bottle-like containers. Such a gripping mechanism has at least one gripper arm pair consisting of two gripper arms and can switch between a gripping position and an open position. In order to transport a container, the gripper arms normally grasp underneath the collar or around the mid-section of the container. A cam control shaft thereby functions as opening means and a spiral spring or a pair of magnets, for example, as closure means for the gripping mechanism or vice versa. The cam control shaft of the gripping mechanism is thereby driven by an actuating means, via which the gripping mechanism can be opened and closed.
The gripping mechanisms are normally concentrically positioned and fixed on a circular support ring around the driving axle or drive shaft respectively of the supporting device. This thereby ensures that after a certain rotational movement of the support ring, the same or another gripping mechanism ends up at the same position again or at a predetermined position at which the gripping mechanism stably grips or again releases a container to be transported. Depending on, inter alia, the size of the support ring, in particular its radius, a maximum number of gripping mechanisms can be fixed on the support ring. It is thereby self-evident that the support ring can also be formed in one or more pieces as a support plate. The number of gripping mechanisms on the support ring likewise depends both on the size of the gripping mechanisms themselves as well as the size of the containers to be transported.
Among that required in order to adapt the supporting devices to new operating conditions such as, for example, new equipment or containers of differing shape and/or size, is changing or respectively replacing the number or type of gripping mechanisms. Known from the prior art is for the gripping mechanisms to comprise a base pedestal with three recesses, in which two pivot axes for both gripper arms as well as a rotatably mounted cam control shaft are arranged, whereby the base pedestal is mountable or mounted on a support ring. The advantage thereby achieved consists of a compact gripping mechanism which can be removed from the support ring or respectively positioned on and secured to the support ring during gripping mechanism replacement without expending an excessive amount of time.
In the situations specified above in which the gripper arms need to be replaced, the systems are stopped and the respective gripper arms are replaced manually.
Such interruptions of operation negatively impact the economic viability of the systems and thus should be as brief as possible.
Also proving to be a disadvantage is that the known prior art gripping mechanisms are difficult to clean. Particularly when filling containers with foodstuffs or pharmaceuticals, very high cleanliness needs to be heeded which can only be achieved in the prior art by frequent cleaning intervals, these usually needing to be at least to some extent performed manually.